


Being There

by bardsley



Category: Daria (Cartoon)
Genre: Future Fic, Gen, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 06:11:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8001454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bardsley/pseuds/bardsley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nearly two decades after she left for college, Daria finds herself back in Lawndale when she and Quinn visit Helen in the hospital.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Being There

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shinealightonme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinealightonme/gifts).



> I really hope you like it!
> 
> Thank you for helping me, DarkAngelAzrael. All remaining mistakes are mine.

 

Neither of the sisters talked to each other. Daria drove. Quinn pretended to look out the window. They held hands. It had been at least ten years since Daria had been in Lawndale. The high school that she and Quinn had attended had been torn down and replaced with a larger, no doubt equally misery-inducing, facility. The pizza place that she used to visit with Jane was now a Starbucks. These observations occurred to Daria dully, with no real emotional connection. It was as if she had used up her emotional quota for the day, and was left empty.

 

Daria started driving more carefully as they got closer to the hospital, slowing down. It wasn’t that she was worried about getting into an accident. She almost wished that something would happen – nothing serious, nothing fatal, just _something_ – to delay going to see their mother.

 

When he’d called, their father wasn’t sure himself how serious it was. He’d just said that they needed to come down as soon as they could. Daria had broken the news to Quinn herself and picked Quinn up at her office not long after.

 

They arrived at the hospital safely. Daria parked in the visitor parking. Neither Daria nor Quinn moved to get out of the car. The sheer abrasive force of Helen’s determination had almost made her seem invincible. Neither of them was ready to see her frail and lying in a hospital bed. Frail and old, Daria thought. Daria’s image of Helen in her mind had frozen Helen somewhere around middle age. Daria would soon be as old as the image of her mother in her memory.

 

“Everything is going to be fine,” Quinn said, drawing out the last word. She turned to Daria with a cheerful, fake smile plastered on her face.

 

Daria stared for a moment. She noticed the small lines starting to form around Quinn’s eyes, and the way Quinn’s fake smile was so much like their mother's. It wasn’t as if Quinn was trying to fool anyone into thinking things were okay. It was more like she was trying to make things okay by sheer force of will.

 

Daria unbuckled her seatbelt and hugged her sister. Quinn went stiff in Daria’s arms for several seconds before relaxing into it and wrapping her arms around Daria. Quinn sniffled. She buried her head against Daria’s neck. Daria felt damp tears against her skin. Again, neither of them spoke.

 

Daria finally broke away. She stepped out of the car. The air outside was cool. She waited while Quinn adjusted her makeup and her expression in the car mirror. Then they walked into the hospital together.

 

Quinn dealt with the nurses. Daria found the room. The door to the room was slightly ajar. They could hear Helen’s voice coming from inside.

 

“…oh, no, Eric, you don’t need to—” Helen’s protests were interrupted by her own forced laughter.

 

Daria pushed through the door and stood in front of her mother, staring open-mouthed. “Mom?”

 

“Mom!” Quinn squealed.

 

Helen lay in the bed. She looked frail and tired, but she looked like mom. Her bobbed hair was snowy white and carefully combed. She looked like she was even wearing makeup. Already, there was a large bouquet of flowers in the corner, probably from the firm, and a smaller bouquet of red roses right by Helen’s bedside. The roses were definitely from Daria’s dad.

 

A delighted smile spread across Helen’s face when she saw Daria and Quinn, before she noticed that her daughters were both looking at her with expressions of shocked horror. Then she blushed. “I have to call you back,” Helen muttered into the phone.

 

“Aunt Amy always said that you would not stop working until you had a heart attack,” Daria said. “I always knew she was too optimistic.”

 

“Muh–om,” Quinn groaned, snatching the phone from her mother and putting it in the pocket of her own jacket. It was a sign of Helen’s weakened state that Quinn managed to take it from her. “I am sure that you are supposed to be resting.”

 

“I am resting! Eric just called to wish me a speedy recovery,” Helen argued. She settled back against her pillows, making an exaggerated show of resting.

 

“The sooner you’re better, the sooner you can get back to the job that gave you a heart attack in the first place,” Daria replied. Daria herself wasn’t sure whether she was giving her mom a hard time because she was so relieved to see her mom feeling well or frustrated that her mother was still taking calls from work in the hospital. It seemed like Helen only worked more slavishly since becoming partner.

 

“Daria, that’s not fair,” Helen said.

 

“It really isn’t,” Quinn agreed. There was something off about Quinn’s tone, but Daria did not want to take the time to think about it now.

 

“It is good to see that the lawyers are sticking together,” Daria said, “was a sentence uttered by no one before, ever.”

 

“It has nothing to do with being lawyers,” Quinn snapped. “Daria, would you just—!” Daria never got to hear what Quinn wanted her to do. Instead Quinn took a deep breath and turned away to face their mother, as if trying to pretend that Daria wasn’t even there. It felt like being in high school. “Mom, where’s dad?”

 

“Home, resting, I hope,” Helen answered. “The nurses chased him out about fifteen minutes ago. He agreed to get some rest and come back with some of my things.”

 

“Did you leave some important notes in your briefcase?” Daria asked.

 

Quinn turned around and scowled. “Seriously. Stop.”

 

Daria felt a flicker of amusement that her little sister thought she could intimidate Daria by scowling. She wondered how her sister got her shark-like reputation in the courtroom. Although, being an intellectual property lawyer wasn’t like facing down hardened criminals, just other intellectual property lawyers. Quinn was all smiles when she turned back to Helen. “How do you feel?”

 

“Well, like I’ve had a heart attack,” Helen replied bluntly. “I’m tired and more than a little shaken up, but the doctors think that there is every reason to be optimistic. They’re going to keep me here for observation for a few days, but they say that I will make a full recovery.” Helen met Daria’s insistent stare, shifted uncomfortably, and seemed compelled to add, “As long as I slow down a little and make some changes, like taking on less work.”

 

“So, you’re doomed,” Daria observed flatly.

 

“Daria!” Quinn exploded. She seemed ready to stomp her foot. Instead, she took a deep breath, turned back to Helen, smiled, and kissed her cheek. “That’s great news, mom.”

 

The smile turned into a grimace as Quinn looked over at Daria. “Help me get mom a soda?”

 

“Top of your class at law school, and you still have not mastered getting a soda by yourself?” Daria asked.

 

Quinn’s glare sharpened, and Daria could sort of see where the shark comparisons might be relevant after all. Daria let Quinn grab her by the arm and lead her out of the room. They found the vending machines. They still didn’t talk. Daria watched Quinn put in the coins for the soda and make her selection. After observing proof that her sister could, in fact, acquire soda herself, Daria found herself growing impatient.

 

“Well?” Daria demanded.

 

“Well, what?” Quinn asked.

 

“Aren’t you going to tell me to stop being so hard on mom?”

 

“Stop being so hard on mom, Daria,” Quinn said dutifully.

 

Daria blinked. “What?”

 

“You don’t get it,” Quinn said. She shook her head. “I get it. I understand why you say the things you say. Mom gets it too. Right now, you’re doing it because you are scared and you are relieved, and making smart remarks is how you cope with feelings that you don’t know how to deal with – which is probably part of why you are such a good writer and so bad at feelings.”

 

Daria stared at Quinn, visibly trying to figure out what angle Quinn was trying to play here. Quinn made a frustrated sound and rolled her eyes. Daria was pretty sure she was the only person who could make Quinn do that anymore.

 

“I also get that you really care about us, and you’re really smart,” Quinn continued. “So I knew that if I took you out of the situation that you would be able to figure out on your own that busting mom over working too hard is not what she needs right now.”

 

Daria wanted to argue with Quinn. She could not think of a way to do that that would not make her feel worse than she already did. She looked intently at the can of soda in Quinn’s hand. “When I think of all the years you’ve been having Jeremy bring you a soda…”

 

“He’s my personal assistant, it’s his job now, Daria,” Quinn huffed. “And his name is Jaime.” Quinn shook her head and grinned; obviously recognizing Daria’s comment for the diversion it was. “And anyway, isn't it a little hypocritical of you to be getting on anyone’s case about working too hard?”

 

“I’m not—”

 

Quinn’s laughter interrupted Daria’s transparent lie. “Come on, Daria. This is the most that we have talked in months. The only time I hear your voice any more is when I turn on NPR.”

 

“You listen to NPR?” Daria asked, pretending to be shocked.

 

“To listen to you, I do. Mom, dad, we all do.”

 

Daria flushed.

 

“And it’s obvious how much work you put into your job, so stop giving mom such a hard time, because we both work too much too,” Quinn said, looking downcast.

 

“Wait, you’re not feeling guilty about that, are you?” Daria asked.

 

Quinn shrugged. “Mom and dad always worked hard, but they were always there when we really needed them. And, they’re getting older, so it seems like it might be time for us to be there for them. I think we can both do better about that.” Helen’s cellphone buzzed. Quinn took the phone out of her pocket and turned it off. “Ugh. And I am going to start by hiding mom’s phone.”

 

There was someone standing behind them at the vending machine, so the sisters stepped aside and started making their way back to Helen’s room.

 

“Hey,” Daria said.

 

“Hmm…?”

 

“When did you get to be the smart one?” Daria asked.

 

Quinn flushed, looking pleased rather than scandalized or offended, proving that some things had changed since high school. Quinn said, “I wouldn’t go that far…”

 

Daria put her hand on Quinn’s arm. “We’ll do better.”

 

Their mom and dad had always been there as much as they could. Daria knew that their parents didn’t think they were owed anything, which kind of made her want to be there for them more.

 

“We all will,” Quinn answered, and when she smiled this time, it was for real.


End file.
